The present invention relates generally to control systems and, more particularly, to process control systems.
Process control systems are used in a variety of industries, such as oil refining, paper manufacturing, chemical manufacturing, power plants, and so forth. These systems may enable a small staff of operating personnel to operate a complex process from a control room. Process control systems may include a variety of process controllers, such as programmable logic controllers, distributed controller systems, or supervisory control and data acquisition systems, for example. In addition, process control systems may be characterized as discrete systems, batch systems, continuous systems, or a combination thereof. For example, in batch systems, a control sequence may be encoded within the process controller. Such control sequences may include a plurality of tasks or instructions that are performed to produce batches of a product. Operators may initiate or start such control sequences to begin producing the batches of product. Unfortunately, it is now recognized that it may be difficult for such batch control sequences to respond to changes in the status of equipment and/or materials used in making the product. For example, existing batch control sequences may be unable to execute or invoke other control sequences in response to such equipment and/or material changes.